CapeFlyer turns profit for second year in a row, officials say

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The CapeFlyer train crossed over the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge in Bourne.

By Kiera BlessingGlobe Correspondent
September 03, 2014

For a second consecutive year, the Cape Flyer train service from Boston to Hyannis has turned a profit, officials said.

“We’re still waiting to get all the numbers from this past weekend,” said Tom Cahir, administrator of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority. “But overall it was a very good summer, and we feel our ridership and revenue exceeded our operation cost.”

The Flyer began running last year, making six trips to and from the Cape each weekend over the summer. In its inaugural season, the Flyer accomplished an unusual feat, paying for itself through revenue.

“It’s really unheard-of for a transportation service like this to run without a subsidy and turn a profit,” Cahir said.

Though official revenue and cost numbers will not be ready for another week, Cahir said that prior to Labor Day weekend the service had raised $202,000, slightly more than in the same time-frame last year, and that ridership was just about 15,000, numbers he said he was “very pleased” with. He said he expects to have raised another $20,000 over Labor Day weekend.

Despite those numbers, the Flyer may see a little less total revenue than last year, because six weeks of service — between Labor Day and Columbus Day — were cut for the 2014 season due to low ridership last year. But Cahir said bringing that service back in the future is a possibility.

The Flyer has been popular in the Bay State as a way to avoid Cape Cod vacation traffic.

“The roads on Cape Cod were never built to handle the volume of traffic they have to deal with these days,” Cahir said. “Anything you can do to utilize the train bridge and get people here without their cars is a plus.”

Cahir said the authority is working to build a “robust and viable” bus service along the Cape to make it easier for riders to get from the last train station in Hyannis to other towns along the sandy peninsula.